Draft excluder



Oct. 6, 1925. 1,556.;091'

T. EDWARDS DRAFT EXCLUDEH Filed March 13. 1924 3 a 28 7 I E.

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UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

DRAFT EXCLUDER.

Application filed March 13, 1924. Serial No. 699,168.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS Enwiinns. a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident of the city of Vancouver in the Province of British Columbia Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Draft Excluders of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in draft excluders the objects of which are to prevent the passage of draft under doors by means of a strip in continuous contact with the floor, a further object being to provide means whereby the strip is raised vertically of the door to which it is fitted the door is opened and toproject such strip into positive cont-act with the floor during the closing movement thereof, a further object is to provide a means which is suitable for attachment to right or left hand doors and for operation on doors surrounded by ordinary or heavy casings and base blocks, a still further object is to provide means whereby the draft excluding strip may be readily adjusted to compensatefor Wear and inequalities in the floor line with which it engages.

My invention consists essentially of a strip supported lengthwise of the bottom rail of the door on vertical racks which are raised and lowered vertically bypinions rotated by a rack pivotally mounted adjacent the door hinge centre and endwise movable along the bottom rail of the door, as will be more fully described in the following specification in which Fig. 1 is a general View of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan View showing its adaption to a door having a base block of ordinary projection.

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing its adaption to a door having a base block of heavy projection.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the pinion casings.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the draft excluding strip.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each figure.

The numeral 1 indicates the bottom rail of a door. 2 being the door jainb. 3 is a base block of ordinary projection and 4 a base block of heavy projection. 5 is one of the hinges upon which the door is hung. Secured to the door adjacent its lower edge sheet material bent over on its are a pair of lower casings 6 and 6, the cas ing 6 being somewhat larger than the casing 6 as shown to advantage in Figure 2. The casing 6 rves as a housing for a large gear 7 to which is fixed a small pinion 8. In like manner the casing 6 serves as a housing for a large gear designated 7 and the fixed pinion 8. The pinion 8, as shown in Fig. 2, is made broader than the pinion S for a purpose which will later appear.

The numeral 9 indicates a-horizontal rod having racl: portions 10 and 10 which are adapted to engage the pinions 8 and 8, the inner end of the rod is eyed as at 11 for engagen'ient with a plate 12 through a pivot pin 13, the rod 9 is offset adjacent its eyed end as at 14- in order that the major portion thereof may lie parallel to the door when it is closed. The numerals 15 and 15 indicate vertical racks which engage the gears 7 and 7 to be raised or lowered thereby and to the lower end which a draft excluding strip 22 is horizontally carried.

The casings 6 and 6 are each formed with a base plate 16 having apertures 17 for the fastening scr-ws while the cover 18 of each casing is provided with r ctangular apertures 19 in its upper and lower walls which act as guides for the vertical racks 15 and 15 and two pairs of rectangular apertures relatively #L numbered 20 and 21 which act as guides for the rack portions 10 and 10 of the rod 9.

The numeral indicates erally the draft excluding strip which is med of upper and lower edges to form a channel 23 for the purpose of holding a cushion strip consisting of a piece of suitable material such as felt adapted to lie in contact with the face of the door to prevent the passage of draft therebetween, and a further channel 25 in which a strip of rubber 26 or other suitable material is downwardly held to form a contact with the floor. The draft excluding strip 22 is secured to each of the racks 15 and 15 by an Lbolt 27 passed through a slot 28 therein so that the racks can be attached to the strip atany desired spacing without having recourse to the use of any tools but a pair of pliers, or a small wrench.

Having thus described the several parts of my invetnion I will now briefly explain the manner in which it is applied and its operation.

When my device is to be attached to a door having a base blockof ordinary projcction such as is shown in Figures 1 and 2, the plate 12 is fixed on the face of the base block 3 at a slight distance back from the door hinge 5, the rod 9 being set with the racks 10 and 10 inverted and passing through the apertures of the casings 6 and 6, above the pinions to raise the racks 15 and 15 and the draft excluding strip as the door is opened, but if the device is to be fitted to a door with a heavy base block such as is shown in Figure 3 when the plate 12 is fixed on the edge of the base block 4t between the pin of the hinge 5 and the face of the door, the rod 9 is set with the racks 10 passing through the apertures 21 of the easing to engage the underside of the pinions 8 and 8*.

It will be apparent that in order to impart similar motion to the draft excluding strip 22 on the opening and closing of the door when the eyed end 11 of the rod 9 is further out from the door than the pin of the door hinge 5-than when the eyed end of the rod lies between the door and its hinge, that the racks must engage the gears above in the first mentioned case, and below in the second.

It will also be apparent that as the door swings about its hinge and as the rod S) is pivoted eccentrically to the hinge, that the rod in its endwise movement will move also tangentially to the door. 1 have therefore made provision for this by providing greater width to the face pinion 8 which is set closest to the hinge side of the door so that the rack 10 in its engagement with such pinion may also move longitudinally thereof. The rubber strip 22 is adjusted to form a close contact with the floor when the door is closed, a draft tight contact is also provided between the draft eXcluder 22 and the door by means of the cushion 24L. On the door be ing opened the rod 9 is moved in a direction which will rotate the pinions and gears to raise the draft excluding strip 22 so that the rubber strip 26 is not subjected to wear and is kept clear of the floor until the door is again nearly closed when contact between the strip and the floor is again established, the strip being firmly pressed down during the final closing movement.

hat I claim as my invention is:

1. The combination with a hinged door and a weather strip for the lower edge thereof, of a horizontal bar movable with the door and pivoted at one end at a point adjacent the hinged edge of the door; and a connection between the bar and strip func-. tioning to raise the strip during opening movement of the door and to lower the strip during closing movement of the door.

2. The combination with a hinged door and a weather strip for the lower edge thereof, of a horizontally disposed bar extending across the lower portion of the door and movable therewith, one end of said bar being pivotally secured at a point adjacent the hinged edge of he door, a pair of vertical racks carried by the weather strip, gears meshing with said racks and connections between the bar and gears functioning to cause the gears to be rotated in a strip raising direction during opening movement of the door and in a strip lowering direction during closing movement of the door.

3. The combination with a hinged door and a weather strip for the lower edge there of, of a horizontal bar extending across the lower portion of the door and movement therewith, said bar having one end pivotally secured at a point adjacent the hinged edge of the door, a pair 'of rotatable shafts carried by the door, connections between the bar and shafts serving to rotate the shafts in one direction during opening movement of the door and in opposite direction during closing movement of the door, and means controlled by the rotation of said shafts for raising and lowering the weather strip dependent upon the direction in which said shafts are rotated.

Dated at Vancouver, of February, 1924.

THOMAS EDVVABDS.

B. C. this 12th day 

